Mary, Mother of the Church

​This year, on May 21st, the Church will celebrate Mary as the Mother of the Church. Pope Francis has declared that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar as an obligatory memorial to be celebrated annually on the Monday after Pentecost. 
 
The understanding of Mary as Mother of the Church is not new. The Early Church understood that Mary was not only the mother of Jesus Christ, but also mother of the Body of Christ, the Church. St. Augustine recognized Mary as the mother of the members of Christ by virtue of her cooperation in the redeeming work of our Saviour and the establishment of the Church. St. Leo the Great explained that since the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, Mary is at once Mother of Christ and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church.1

Mater Ecclesiae. The mosaic which overlooks St Peter’s square in Rome. Photo: John Joas.

In 1964 at the close of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, Blessed Paul VI bestowed upon Mary the title “Mother of the Church”. It is no accident that the Council chose to situate its discussion of Mary in the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. In chapter eight of this document the Council affirms its special love for Mary due to her role in salvation history and instructs the Church to look to Mary as an example of what it means to be a redeemed person. By meditating on Mary in light of the Word made flesh, the Church enters more intimately into the mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more like Christ. Mary is “the model of virtues”; in contemplating her holiness, imitating her charity, and in receiving the word of God in faith, the Church herself becomes a mother.2
 
In 1975 the Apostolic See proposed a votive Mass in honour of the Blessed Mary Mother of the Church, which has since been inserted into the Roman Missal, and is the basis of the new liturgical celebration. The Gospel passage for the Mass, from the Gospel of John 19:25 – 27, takes place at the foot of the Cross:

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 

Mary is simultaneously present in the Church as the Mother of Christ and as the Mother that Christ gave to humanity in the person of the beloved disciple, John.3 

Tradition holds that Mary prayed with the apostles in the upper room awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that gave birth to the Church. The members of this Church are the Body of Christ and united with Christ their Head they share the same mother, Mary. It is fitting that Pope Francis has chosen the following day to commemorate Mary’s motherly care of the pilgrim Church on earth. The new celebration reflects a maturation of liturgical veneration of Mary that “will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.”4

​By: Simone Brosig, Ph.D | Director of Liturgy 

Notes:

1. Robert Card. Sarah, Decree on the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church in the General Roman Calendar, prot. N. 10/18, 11 February 2018.
2. Lumen gentium, 64 – 65.
3. St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 47.
4. Robert Card. Sarah, Decree on the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church in the General Roman Calendar, prot. N. 10/18, 11 February 2018.

Vertical Divider

Liturgical Calendar Information
Obligatory Memorial: Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church
Monday after Pentecost – Monday May 21, 2018
Mass: Roman Missal p. 1337 (Votive Mass Our Lady, Mother of the Church)
Readings: Ritual Lectionary no. 1002. 

• First reading: 1002(1) or 1002(2). Genesis 3.9-15,20 or Acts 1.12-14
• Psalm: 1002(3) Judith 13, 18bc, 19-20ab, R. 15.9d
• Gospel: 1002(5) John 19.25-27

Colour: White

Resources:

• The Decree Protects. N. 10/18
• A commentary by Robert Card. Sarah

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